Health care for all

Do you think health care is a human right?

Do you have health insurance? Do all members of your extended family? Does your neighbor? What will happen to the uninsured during this pandemic if the virus strikes?

Should health care be a right to all, no matter where we live or how much money we make? To me, no one should have to worry about something so very basic to society’s well being as access to health care.

In the United States we do not yet have universal health insurance. Forty-four million Americans lack health insurance and 43.5 million are under insured. This number has grown steadily since Trump became president because he and his supporters have tried to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Why?

They don’t believe in government-run health insurance. They think corporations, who charge much more than governments, should be able to make a big profit on health insurance. Those corporate profits make the insurance unaffordable to one-third the population of this country.

Trump also does not believe in preparing for a pandemic. Obama, along with getting health insurance to people with pre-existing conditions, also had a pandemic preparedness team of experts in place and shared all the details with Trump. Trump got rid of the team. In early February he sent 17 tons of emergency medical supplies to China because he believed COVID-19 would not touch the U.S. As a result we lack the masks, protective gowns and respirators we need now here.

Luckily for Coloradoans, Gov. Polis is working hard to get us what we need. He has also extended the period to get health insurance through Connect For Health Colorado You can enroll now through April 30. https://connectforhealthco.com

Illene Pevec

Carbondale